Italian Class 40s on the attack at Niji with Riva, Fornaro, Sericano and Rosetti

The ocean-going boat category that has most excited the public in recent seasons, especially the Italian but not only, is about to return. From Belle-Île-en-me, not far from Lorient, on April 7 at 1 p.m. 13 Class 40s will depart for the Niji 40, the first transatlantic of a busy season for this category that also sees several Italians involved. And there will indeed be a lot of our sailing in this first transatlantic, crewed affair of the season. The two big names Alberto Bona and Ambrogio Beccaria, who are preparing for the Transatte CIC at the end of April, will not be at the start, but at this Niji 40 there will be all the rest of the Italian fleet, with a new entry to be discovered, and also some of the strongest French skippers.

Class 40 – The return of Riva, Fornaro and the new Tyrolit

Alberto Riva on the Musa 40 Edilizia Crobatica, crewed by Benjamin Schwartz and Jean Marre, returns to racing after a serious leg injury suffered during the Transatte Jacques Vabre that forced him to undergo surgery and months of rehabilitation. For Riva on his Musa 40 Acrobatics this is practically a new debut, since at Jacques Vabre he had barely managed to take part in the first mini-stage before he was injured. On the sister boat will be Andrea Fornaro with Influence 2, with Alessandro Torresani and Domenico Caparotti, a great protagonist of a Jacques Vabre where he came very close to the podium.

New for Italy is Matteo Sericano, making his absolute debut in Class 40, who will have as co-skipper the fresh winner of the Mini Transatte 2023, Luca Rosetti, also a 40′ rookie, in a crew completed by Giovanni Licursi. Sericano will skipper Tyrolit, Class 40 VPLP of 2022, perhaps not among the fastest in the fleet but still a modern scow boat. Despite being in their first official regatta with the Classes, they gave the fleet a hard time in the prologue by surprisingly finishing in second place, and it will be very interesting to see what they can do in the regatta despite a last minute preparation and a boat to be discovered.

Class 40 – Top Frenchmen who will be at Niji

As we said at the outset, the Class 40 fleet is divided this early in the season between those who will take part in the Niji 40 and those who will devote themselves to the solo Transatte CIC. Among the frontrunners are some of the French bigwigs in the class who will keep the level of competition very high, starting with Xavier Macaire, one of the stars of the last Jacques Vabre. Also to watch out for will be Gildas Mahé, Erwan Le Draoulec and William Mathelin Moreaux, the latter in his first regatta with his new Musa 40.

This is the fourth hull in the series built by Sangiorgio Marine, which began with Ambrogio Beccaria’s Allagrande Pirelli. Italy in Class 40s is not only skippers in fact, but also right now the
project of Gianluca Guelfi and Fabio D’Angeli
which is proving particularly successful.

www.niji40.fr